Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of creating communal tension to consolidate its Hindu votebank. Mr Thackeray, who addressed a political meeting after a long time, said that the AIMIM’s Owaisi brothers are being allowed to make hate speeches in Maharashtra as it helps the BJP. He also accused the BJP government of making selective leaks in the Yakub Memon hanging case for the same reason.
Mr Thackeray addressed a meeting of his party’s workers in Thane, where he criticised the BJP, its national president Amit Shah, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also accused NCP chief Sharad Pawar of promoting anti-Brahmin politics in Maharashtra.
“I am facing 92 cases for speaking in the interest of Maharashtra. These Owaisi brothers have been spewing venom through their speeches across the state. But there is not a single case filed against them. The BJP wants them to come and give hate speeches so that Hindus get incensed and continue to support the BJP,” the MNS leader said.
Further referring to leaks to the media reports about Yakub Memon’s hanging, his last wish, Tiger Memon’s alleged phone call to his mother in which he swore to take revenge of Yakub’s death; the MNS leader said that this information was leaked so that the communal tension remains in the society. “When it comes to corruption, farmer suicides, lack of irrigation facilities etc. there is no change in the situation even after the change in the government. Only faces of leaders have changed, rest everything is same. The governments will ensure that there is always communal tension so that those in power remain in power,” he said.
Mr Thackeray also linked the emergence of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah as national leaders with the discrimination against non-vegetarians in Mumbai. He claimed that some Gujaratis have started believing that they can bully other communities after Mr Modi became the Prime Minister and Mr Shah became the BJP’s national president. “Some societies have now started banning non-vegetarian food. They should do what they want in their homes,” he said.
Another issue that has been simmering is the Maharashtra government’s decision to confer the Maharashtra Bhushan award on veteran historian Babasaheb Purandare. Some of the organisations representing the Maratha community as well as NCP leader Jitendra Awhad have been accusing Mr Purandare of spreading lies about Shivaji’s history and opposed the government’s decision.
“Mr Purandare is 93 years old and he has spent all his life spreading the message of Shivaji Maharaj. These people do not feel ashamed while targeting him in the filthiest way. They are targeting Mr Purandare because his is a Muslim. A leader like Sharad Pawar is allowing all this. Caste politics was always there in Maharashtra. But it started coming out in the open when the Nationalist Congress Party was formed. They have branded all great personalities as a leader of a particular community. So Shivaji Maharaj is the leader of Marathas, Swatantryaveer Savarkar and Lokmanya Tilak have been made leaders of Brahmins, Mahatma Phule has become a leader of the Mali community, so on and so forth,” Mr Thackeray said.
